British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak arrived in Israel onThursday — the latest Western leader to visit the country this week in a show of support for Israeli authorities and to discuss humanitarian aid for the Gaza Strip. President Biden, who visited Israel on Wednesday, said a strike at a Gaza hospital appeared to come from an “errant rocket fired by a terrorist group in Gaza,” echoing the Israel Defense Forces’ stance on the incident. Palestinian authorities blamed the strike on Israel and said it killed 471 people — a death toll the IDF has disputed. The Washington Post could not immediately verify either side’s claim. On his return to Washington, Biden said Egypt would allow up to 20 trucks with aid through the Rafah border crossing into Gaza, as the enclave faces an increasingly dire humanitarian crisis.
Less than 24 hours before President Biden’s arrival in Israel, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz experienced firsthand the risks of diplomatic travel to a war zone. Scholz — one of the first leaders to visit since the Hamas attack — took cover in a shelter at the German Embassy in Tel Aviv after missile warning sirens sounded twice. And on Tuesday evening at Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport, Scholz and his delegation were forced to evacuate the government’s Konrad Adenauer plane amid rocket attacks. Journalists traveling with Scholz were told to lie on the runway, while the chancellor reportedly ran to a shelter. “I personally saw explosions in the sky as the Israeli Iron Dome [air defense system] intercepted two missiles,” Robin Alexander of the German newspaper WELT posted on social media. Passengers were able to re-board after an additional security check, and the flight took off as planned for Cairo.
Photos show humanitarian aid workers and volunteers in North Sinai, Egypt, are camping outside near the Rafah border crossing into Gaza as they wait for the crossing to reopen. President Biden said Egyptian President Abdel Fatah El-Sisi agreed to open the crossing, allowing up to 20 trucks of humanitarian aid to enter the enclave, possibly as early as Friday.
Biden’s aid deal faces many hurdles before it will reach Gazans
The announcement Wednesday that President Biden has secured a deal to allow aid into Gaza has been hailed as a humanitarian breakthrough — but details are still murky. Given the scale of the needs in Gaza, the initial delivery of up to 20 trucks would make little impact, humanitarian officials caution.
The Gaza Strip, which is ruled by Hamas, has a similar land area to Las Vegas but more than three times the population, and it has been under Israeli blockade for 16 years, leaving the health system struggling even before the latest conflict. With more than 3,000 people killed and 12,000 wounded, the system has been repeatedly described as on the verge of collapse.
While fighting continues, one-off aid deliveries can only briefly stem the deepening crisis. It is also unclear whether supplies such as fuel — a commodity that hospitals desperately need to keep the lights on — will be allowed on the trucks.
Humanitarian officials say they have yet to secure guarantees that aid workers delivering the supplies will be protected from Israeli bombardment. Dozens of health-care and aid workers have been killed and injured since fighting, and at least 15 hospitals are reporting damage.
“While the passage of 20 trucks would be a welcome step, humanitarians state that five times that number is needed daily,” said Emma Beals, a nonresident fellow at the Middle East Institute.
“What is needed is consistent and unimpeded aid access into and within Gaza, not only for the entry of and safe passage of supplies but also for humanitarians to be able to undertake their work safely.”
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